In the March 28, 2011 issue of The Daily Star there appeared a letter to the editor from one of the community’s better known homophobic letter writers, D.H. Perkins. I must say, being the gay activist that I am, I have seen and heard a lot of vile statements coming from the right wing bashing the LGBTQ community and disparaging the need for equal rights for all citizens of this country. However, Mr. Perkins’ letter was so over the top to the point that I was even taken aback by the level of incoherent thought exhibited in the letter.
Now I find it necessary to state that not only has Mr. Perkins written this gem that appeared in the March 28th issue, but he has also written two others. Big deal you say? A lot of people write numerous letters.
Yes I agree, but you see Mr. Perkins has either mentioned me personally and/or my publication Diversity Rules Magazine in not only this current diatribe against homosexuals but in the two others he had written. I should be honored that I am the focus of his attention.
However, his obsession with bashing me and Diversity Rules Magazine in numerous letters exhibits a level of deranged thinking that often times scares me a bit. Scared for the equal rights of LGBTQ citizens in this country. I would hate to think of life under the rule of the likes of Mr. Perkins. We would most assuredly be put in concentration camps and sequestered from society in general.
So it appears that Mr. Perkins was conversing with another well informed individual named Ron. Ron was lamenting that his good friend Mr. Perkins had stopped writing letters to the editor. To which Mr. Perkins replied, “…thanks, Ron. Considering the pro stance the Star takes on gays and gay rights, including same-sex marriage and the Diversity Rules rag, I just might start writing again.” Oh boy did he ever!
His thoughts on equality: “Let’s see, is gay equal to straight? No. Is an apple equal to an orange? No. Is a pear equal to a plum? No. Is a peach equal to a pineapple? Get the point? Where is the equality? It only exists in the minds of gays and the misguided people who support them.”
Oh how insightful and ingenious to use fruit to prove his point that gays do not deserve equal rights because they are inherently unequal. I am embarrassed for Mr. Perkins that he uses such a silly line of thinking and states because fruits are not all the same, thus gay people should not be equal to everyone else. Is he serious? Yes it appears he is.
His justification for why gays should not be equal to everyone else is to fall back on the creationist tale where two people just happened to pop out of the sky at the hand of an unseen force (male of course), into a garden in the Middle East somewhere, and then procreated the population of the Earth.
It’s much better seeing it from Mr. Perkins’ own mouth: “At the time of creation was it two men or two women that were created? Of course not; it was a man and a woman. Anyone with half a brain can figure that out.”
First of all, Mr. Perkins fails to realize that not all share his narrow view of creation. But as is the case with people like Mr. Perkins, there is no other truth and they must inflict that truth upon others whether they like it or not. “We know what’s best for you” they say.
Well Mr. Perkins you do not know what is best for everyone. You have not a clue what it means to be a free thinking individual, unfettered by the poison of hate, prejudice and discrimination. If you were you certainly would understand that people are unique individuals To state we all should think the same as you is just a paradigm of thought that is incomprehensible to most thinking individuals.
Now to Mr. Perkins’ last premise in his letter. This is the most amazing argument he puts forth and the most contradictory. He states, “Now I’m not at all against gay people … I just disagree with their lifestyle. Homosexuality belongs in the animal kingdom where the participants don’t know any better.”
Mr. Perkins says he has nothing against gay people but then equates gay people to animals in the animal kingdom who just don’t know any better and that they are sinners and immoral. Wow is all I can say. With friends like yourself Mr. Perkins, you don’t need any enemies. You end up contradicting yourself and expressing the opinion that I believe is the most near and dearly held to your heart.
This Stone Age thinking as expressed in Mr. Perkins’ letter was so amazingly inane and insane that I felt the compulsion to address it squarely and forcefully. We must be diligent to guard against any possibility that people like Mr. Perkins be further empowered in any significant way. We must prevent them through the ballot box, from inflicting their very narrow minded beliefs on the general populace that reviles your way of thinking. Your rocks are waiting for you to crawl back under.
I have nothing personally against people like Mr. Perkins. They are entitled to express their views just as I am because of that little tidbit in our Constitution called The First Amendment. I admire their dedication and commitment to their beliefs but that does not mean I cannot and will not disagree with them and work to expose their reactionary ways.
America is at a crossroads. We should be afraid of what could possibly transpire if people like Mr. Perkins, the very same people who captured the House of Representatives, have free reign in our government. We have already seen the horrific legislation that has come forth from the House against labor, minorities, the environment, education, and the list goes on and on. Those that are benefiting from the legislation they have put forth are white, heterosexual males in high paying corporate jobs, not caring at all about the general welfare of those who are in need and cannot help themselves.
Rational people will reject Mr. Perkins’ and those who think like him. I shall do whatever is in my power to stop their homophobia, and I will use Diversity Rules Magazine as a vehicle to do so as well.
Ta ta Mr. Perkins. Ta ta to your friend Ron too.
Jim,
it is quite obvious to me, as a practicing physician of thirty-four years, who has treated innumerable persons, that Mr. Perkins "reasoning" and thought process display blatant concrete thinking with flight of ideas and lack of logical process. This is consistent with a person who has a mental distortion, illness, which merits not serious consideration by rational persons, although he is entitled to express his ideas. Having said that, persons with similar conditions become a danger to society when empowered by society if taken to heart and given a soap box. David J. Martin, M.D.